Eternal Hope
by LalaHedgeMunk
Summary: After a long hiatus, Sonic, along with Tails, Manic, and Sonia, returns to Knothole seeming to everyone very different from his usual upbeat self. Continuing the search for the Chaos emeralds, the four make some new friends to help them, not only with the battle against Robotnik, but also the battles inside themselves. Adventure, Romance, Humor, Tragedy, Faith. Critique welcome!
1. 00 Cycle Down

Tell me what you think of when you hear the word "hero".

You probably think of strength to start out with, and courage. You probably imagine someone you know or know about, someone you admire; could be someone with lots of power, or someone with a unique talent put to good use. Heroes are smart, confident, fearless, and unbreakable. _Right?_

Bet you didn't think of anyone weak. Bet the words "afraid", "lonely", "stupid", "impulsive", "dishonest", or "hollow" never crossed your mind. And if they did? Congratulations!

You're just. Like. Me.

I have adoring fans that gaze at me like I'm the greatest thing they've ever seen, but all they've ever seen is what I choose to show them, which isn't much. They all call me a hero, but if they knew the real me, if they knew what I've done, they'd all turn their backs on me faster than I can run. I'd never live it down.

Heroes have their lives all together, don't let people get to them, and always know what to say.

_Totally_ doesn't describe me. My life has been one bloody car wreck after another and now it's all piled up in front of me. I'm too weak now to climb over and there's no way I'm going back. No one knows how bad it really is, and I'm afraid, but also kind of relieved that no one ever will.

I find myself wishing that, if only just once, _I_ didn't have to be the hero of the story.


	2. 01 The Old Grind

The New Girl:

I guess I figured out at a young age that I'm going to die, but I've only known for a short time how close that death probably is. Never have I known when, but I've at least had an idea as to how.

It sucks.

Especially being a teenager, one who has made many mistakes. I'll never get to make them right, never get to _really live_ my life. I thought I would at least have more time, been able to succeed, but here I am being led like a lamb to the slaughter. No where left to run and no one to break my fall…

God, I really hope you know what you're doing.

Ch 1: The Old Grind

_What am I doing here? _Sonic asked himself, perched high in a tree. _What did I think was gonna happen? That we could just forget everything we did? That everything would turn out like some fairytale?_ He shook his head and sighed.

At least no one else would have to know.

He turned to gaze at the growing mid-day tide lapping a shore in the distance when a jarring "PING!" in his ear blasted him out of his morose state.

"Geez!" he growled, clapping a hand over his ear. He held a button on the headset. "What's up guys?" he huffed.

"Hey, Sonic!" It was Tails, cheerful as ever. "You might wanna get over here. I'm getting crazy Chaos Energy readings and I think we've found the next emerald!"

"Alright, alright!" Sonic chuckled, "I'm on my way." The kit's enthusiasm always brought a smile to his face.

"And pick up the pace bro!" Manic yelled, followed by Sonia's taunt.

"Yeah, Sonic. We're waaaiitiiiing!"

Of course, a little challenge never hurt either.

Sonic took off in a flash and answered his siblings. "I'm already there!"

He zipped through forest and rugged terrain, narrowly missing obstacles and laughing as he did. Running seemed to be the only thing anymore that made him feel like he had control, the only thing that made him free. He stopped abruptly in front of the entrance to Knothole and slipped inside, then jogged to his apartment. Knothole was much more than a village now. It had grown into a tiny kingdom that vaguely reflected that of Acorn, conveniently hidden by the tall and dense Great forest. Sonic smiled believing that, soon, they would all be free from Robotnik and wouldn't need to hide anymore. When he arrived at his front door, he threw it open and stepped in to announce himself.

"Don't worry, guys! The party's here!"

"Well it's about time slowpoke!" Manic teased.

"Slowpoke?!" Sonic repeated indignantly, walking toward the computer room.

"Yeah, what took you so long, shorty?"

Sonic's ear twitched as an irritated look fell on his face. "By. An. Inch!" he shouted lunging in Manic's face. And I'm sorry if it takes me 20 minutes to cross half the continent on foot. I totally forgot you can do better. Riiiight?"

Manic responded by rolling his eyes and crossing his arms with a huff. Knowing he'd won, Sonic's mouth spread into a mocking grin.

"Oh there you guys are!" Sonia tisked, "Tails has some interesting news about the emerald's possible location. Come on!"

The three siblings walked into the room to see the young fox talking animatedly to himself. Their chuckling snapped him out of his thoughts, and he spun to face them, smiling when he saw his blue friend.

"Hey Sonic! Glad you made it! You should _really_ see this." He turned back and clicked around on the computer. Several pictures with long, descriptive captions appeared on the screen, which prompted his explanation.

"So our next destination is Crystal Kingdom. Almost a decade ago, the royal city was attacked. Many lost their lives, and the survivors fled to the surrounding districts, two of which (the North and Northeast) were devastated and left almost uninhabited. The remaining six districts are cut off from the main city by a forest, kinda like ours, but much bigger, darker, and wilder."

"Right," Sonic cut him off, "the history lesson is great and all, buuut why is this all important?"

"Because," Tails sighed, clicking open another window, one with a map on it, "we're running right into a war zone and we need to be prepared. This has been going on since before Robotnik's betrayal.

"This-" he pointed to a large enshrouded circle on the map, "is the Forbidden Forest that surrounds the main city, and this-" he pointed to a small green pip on the eastern side of the shroud, "is the Chaos emerald. It's been moving a little bit since I contacted you."

"Maybe one of Robotnik's dumb bots nabbed it?" Sonia suggested.

"Maybe an animal got curious," Manic added.

"Who- or whatever it is, we need to get that emerald," Sonic concluded, "so let's go!"

Tails flew the group in his trusty tornado; it only took a couple hours. He landed in a clearing and pulled as close to the trees as he could fit. The four jumped out of the plane and checked the radar to figure out where to go.

"Ok guys," Tails said, "the emerald is _that_ way."

"Well what are we waiting for?" Sonia asked enthusiastically.

"Yeah!" Sonic answered, "C'mon!"

"WAIT!" an old voice shouted.

They turned around to see a man stumble toward them.

"Don't go in there!" he cried desperately to the confused youths. "You're walking right to your graves!"

Their eyes were all wide with shock. Sonia was the first to unfreeze and approach the tired old man.

"Sir, we-" she started.

"Please!" he begged, laying a gentle hand on her shoulder, "There's nothing here for you kids. Leave this place!"

"I'm sorry sir," Sonia replied boldly, "but we _do_ have business here."

We've lost something that belongs to us," Tails explained.

"And we need to get it back," Sonic finished. "We don't mean any disrespect, but if you can't help us, then you're only holding us back."

The man stood rigid, staring intensely into each of their eyes. He finally relaxed and began to speak more calmly. "Please forgive me then. My name is Garth and I'm a watcher over these woods. Many youngsters wander through here thinking that it's just some ghost story told 'round the campfire. They get themselves lost and aren't seen again. However, since you know what you're coming for, I'll come and see you through 'til you find it."

The four siblings gave Garth quick thank yous and set off.

The trek consisted of Tails describing the emerald's trail (whether it was moving toward them, away from them, or had stopped altogether) and a soft, constant, barely audible muttering from Garth. Once in a while, one of the kids would jump, unsure of whether they _really_ heard raspy, sick voices in the distance, or if it was just the wind. Every time one of them would startle, Garth's mumbling would get a little stronger, his hand clinging tightly to the charm around his neck.

Finally, after a couple hours of chasing the green pip, the radar led them right into the side of a mountain.

"What the-?" Sonic exclaimed as they all approached. He raced up to it and began searching for a secret entrance of some kind.

"Hey! What gives, man?" Manic turned to the old man, "What's with the random mountain in the middle of nowhere, dude?"

Garth smiled and gazed up at it, though it was a bleak smile he wore. "That," he began solemnly, "is our city on a hill."

Manic looked back at the enormous landform. "Uhhh…_hill_?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

Garth chuckled lightly and answered, "The royal city was built high above the districts to be seen by all as a beacon of hope. He sighed and turned away, shaking his head. "Sadly, it's great light was extinguished and our kingdom has fallen into shadow."

The four siblings stared sympathetically, feeling for his loss.

"Is there anything we can do to help? Sonia asked gently.

"Pray, kids," he said, running a hand through his hair and sighing, "Pray for a champion to rise and take their rightful place on the throne."

The triplets eyed each other dubiously, but turned around when Tails had a sudden outburst.

"The reason we're having trouble is the perspective. The radar is set to an aerial view, which shows location, but not depth. The altitude view I programmed into it, for just such an occasion, gives me more of a close up to find things nearby.

"Our emerald happens to be right above us!" he concluded matter-of-factly, pleased with his success and forethought.

Then the green pip started plummeting toward their white pips.

"Huh?" exclaimed Sonia. "Is it falling?"

"Well that's convenient," Sonic answered, amused.

"Uhhhm, that's not the only thing dudes." Manic pointed up when he'd caught their attention. "Look!" The others followed his urgent gaze to see a shadow hurtling toward them along the side of the mountain.

It became clearer that the high-pitched ringing they were hearing was the terrified scream of a girl. They gasped simultaneously as the realization hit them, but Sonic didn't waste any time.

"I'm on it!" he shouted as he shot forward and up the side of the mountain. He gauged the distance and rate the girl was falling and timed a perfect triangle jump, ricocheting between the mountain and a nearby tree until he landed in front of the others, holding the girl bridal style. She had gone silent and looked unconscious.

"Hey man," Sonic looked at Garth, "she might need help. You got a place we can take her?"

Not missing a beat, Garth replied, "Of course! It's not too far from where I found you all. Follow me!"

"But Sonic," Tails asked him as they set out again, "the emerald-"

"Is _not_ as important as taking care of someone in need." He looked into his adopted brother's worried eyes. "C'mon bud, it'll be fine! We know the way so we can always come back and look!"

"Ok," Tails sighed. There was no way for him to argue without sounding heartless, especially with Sonic, so he turned off his tablet and flew on, immediately distracted by trying to calculate how tall the trees there were.

They finally made it to the clearing, passing the Tornado on the way to Garth's, which looked like a stereotypical back-woods log cabin, but inside it was nice and cozy. Garth led Sonic to a sofa where he could lay the girl down carefully. He noticed she had a back pack and removed it. He was going to set it down, but he held it up, contemplating, trying to decide between being nosey or polite

Then he heard a gasp, and his eyes darted up to see Tails sitting across the room with the tablet on and nearly plastered to his face. Sonia, Manic, and Garth hurried into the room to see what had happened, only to find Tails tapping back and forth between aerial and altitude views on the radar. Suddenly, he stood up and pointed at Sonic.

"Open that bag!" he commanded.

Sonic regarded him with a raised eyebrow, then looked at the bag, smiling, and simply said, "Ok!" but his obnoxious grin was quickly replaced by deep concern and confusion. He reached into the open bag, feeling the energy surge through his hand before he closed it and pulled out the teal Chaos Emerald. A strange, tense silence filled the room; it felt like a thousand years before Sonia sniffed haughtily and crossed her arms.

"Well, now I'm really eager to find out who this girl _thinks_ she is, swiping _our_ emerald!"

Manic put a hand on her indignant shoulder.

"Calm down, sis. We don't even know her. We can't really make any judgments until we can talk to her."

"He's right," Sonic said. "I'm sure if we treat her well, she'll be open to answer our questions. We just have to wait til she wakes up."

"In the mean time, make yourselves at home," Garth assured them.

Everyone slowly spread out to get some rest. Sonic took a seat next to the couch and studied the distress in the girl's face, hoping it wouldn't take long.


End file.
